Category Archives: Horse care

How you can help horse owners in Oklahoma

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, Horse care, horse rescue and tagged with , ,
Horses rescued from debris

Some horse have been rescued from the debris; others are missing.

The massive tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma has left at least 24 people dead and hundreds injured — but it has also killed or displaced thousands of animals. Below is a list of ways that you can help the horse community recover.

Please be careful when making donations to check the legitimacy of the charitable organization. Sadly, there are many scammers who take advantage of the good will of others.

In addition to funds, horse owners need supplies and feed for their surviving horses. Many of those who have lost horses have asked for friends to send them photos.

Plain as Bay Eventing

Sky and Randy Weidner’s barn, apartment and truck were destroyed and they lost all 12 horses. Friends have set up the Randall Weidner Catastrophe Trust at the Wells Fargo

Plain as Bay eventing

Plain as Bay Eventing run by Sky and Randy Weidner had their barn and apartment destroyed and lost all twelve horses.

Bank. Donations can also be made through Paypal using rwquarters@yahoo.com.

Oklahoma State University’s Center for Veterinary Health Sciences is offering care for animals injured during the storm. Owners and referring veterinarians can call 405/744-7000 to arrange for care. Meanwhile, contributions to defray the cost of this care can be made online at www.cvhs.okstate.edu/oarf or by calling 405/385-5607.

The Benchmark Animal Hospital in Carney, Okla., is offering help to storm-injured animals. Call 405/547-8381 for details.

The Orr family, operators of Orr Family Farm, have established a hotline for those wishing to contribute to the farm’s recovery. Call 405/283-2258 to register.

Blind horse survives tornado

Fiona, a blind horse, managed to get inside her barn before the tornado hit. Although the building collapsed around her, she survived for at least 16 hours before she was found. Click on the photo to be taken to the news story.

Red Earth Feed and Tack in Oklahoma City is collecting contributions of halters, lead ropes, and other equipment, as well as feed and cash contributions to compensate veterinarians providing storm-related animal care. Call 405/478-3424 for details.

The Women’s Horse Industry Network is collecting donations for storm impacted horse owners. Visit www.womenshorseindustry.com or call 615/730-7833 for details.

The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) is accepting donations for those affected by the tornadoes. Contributions of non-perishable food items, toiletries, gloves, buckets, and shovels can be brought to the AQHA headquarters in Amarillo, Texas. Call 806/376-4811 for details.

(This list was compiled using information from http://www.eventingnation.com and http://www.thehorse.com).

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Tongue Tied

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, Horse care, horse health, Thoroughbred Racing and tagged with ,
Many race horses have their tongues tied to prevent DDSP.

Many race horses have their tongues tied to prevent DDSP.

One of my theories about why Sheldon is so unhappy about bits is that, as a race horse, he most likely had his tongue tied during races.

Many trainers routinely tie down a horse’s tongue to prevent the Dorsal Displacement of the Soft Palate (DDSP) or to prevent a horse from getting its tongue over the bit. DDSP can interfere with the epiglottis and create breathing problems and that will slow a horse down.

How does that work?

Stacy Brown, a veterinary student, and Dr. Jeremy D. Hubert Assistant Professor of Equine Surgery address this topic in a paper from the Equine Health Studies Program at Louisiana State University’s School of Veterinary Medicine,

The epiglottis, a relatively rigid structure in the back of the throat, is positioned above the back edge of the soft palate, which is an extension of the hard palate (roof or mouth) and serves to separate the nasal and oral cavities. This anatomical arrangement helps assure that the air is directed into the trachea (windpipe).  However, during eating and swallowing, the soft palate moves upward as the epiglottis flips backward to cover the entry to the trachea.  This shift in the position of the epiglottis occurs so that food and saliva are directed into the esophagus and not into the trachea.  Dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP) is a condition whereby the epiglottis becomes positioned above the soft palate (Figure 2).  Swallowing should replace the epiglottis to its normal position; however, if this does not occur then a tentative diagnosis of DDSP is provided.

DDSP may be intermittent (the most common) or persistent.  With intermittent displacement, the horse is able to replace the soft palate when swallowing.  When a horse is persistently displaced, the displacement is not corrected when the horse swallows. Because the displacement is not corrected with swallowing in horses with permanent DDSP, these horses are not capable of covering the opening of their trachea during eating, which may lead to coughing and ultimately aspiration pneumonia.

DDSP most commonly occurs in racehorses, but can occur in other types of performance horses, particularly those required to over flex at the poll (i.e. Hackney ponies and Saddlebreds). Owners and trainers often complain that these horses are “choking down” or are “gurgling”. These horses are often observed to be open-mouthed breathing during episodes of this loud, expiratory (while breathing out) gurgling noise.  Once the palate displaces they are unable to breathe sufficiently, which leads to rapid slowing or stopping, at which time, they usually swallow and replace the palate into normal position, causing the gurgling noise to dissipate and the open-mouth breathing to stop. Substantial exercise intolerance occurs during DDSP due to disruption in airflow.  The exercise intolerance and gurgling noise are due to the soft palate creating an expiratory airway obstruction because of its abnormal position. While gurgling is relatively common, DDSP cannot be ruled out in a horse that is exercise intolerant, but does not make a noise. Approximately 30% of horses affected with DDSP reportedly do not make a noise.

Tongue tying may make sense for race horses, but the practice can cause long-term tongue issues which can be tough to fix.

Sheldon's tongue

Sheldon’s tongue always comes out on the right side of his mouth.

In Sheldon’s case, the issue with his tongue comes up (or out) when he’s got a bit in his mouth and he’s feeling stressed. If I’m schooling him in the field, his tongue mostly stays in his mouth; if he’s out on the trails or in a new situation, it comes right out.

With bitless bridle, his tongue stays put.

Recently Sheldon had some body work done and his jaw was obviously bothering him. During the work that was done on his bars, his tongue came out farther than any horse I’d ever seen!

What about you? Have you seen tongue issues like this with OTTBs?

jaw adjustment

When Sheldon was having his TMJ adjusted, his tongue came waaay out of his mouth! After the adjustment he appeared to be a lot more comfortable.

10 weeks into rehab and Freedom is round

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, Horse care, horse health and tagged with , ,
Freedom

This is the roundest that I’ve ever seen Freedom!

News flash: ten weeks of restricted activity and not-very-restricted eating = fat horse. Yes, for the first time ever, Freedom is round. Even my vet noticed when she came for his 8 week check up and spring shots.

I’ve cut back on his grain, for sure. He’s down to 5 quarts of TC Senior and 2 quarts of Alfalfa pellets per day (there are times when he’s need 7 quarts of Senior per day to hold his weight). Maybe he’s finally starting to relax and enjoy his extended vacation. He’s certainly gotten better at sleeping in the paddock, bossing around Willow (I just hope she likes to get bitten as much as he seems to like biting her!) and eating every tiny green shoot that dares to grow more than a millimeter out of the ground.

The good news is that I can ride him again. Okay, it’s at a walk but we’re up to 30 minutes now and that’s enough to go somewhere. I’ve been taking him on short trail rides — out to the pony club ring, around the big fields, and through the woods. He likes to get off property and is eager to go further. He’s a horse that really needs a job, even if it’s just a hack.

It’s good for me, too. I’m really lucky to have other horses to ride but Freedom is familiar in a way that other horses just can’t be.

Duck, Duck, Goose!

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in equestrian, Horse care, horses and tagged with , , ,
Freedom Chasing Goose

Freedom and I have a new game. We chase the single goose that has set up housekeeping in our pasture. Freedom can walk for 15 minutes under saddle every day and this new past time gives him focus. In fact, he follows the goose without any guidance from me. I’m not sure what he’d do if we actually got close to it, but so far, that hasn’t been an issue. Here you can see him lasering in on the chase!

The needles tell the story

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, equine massage, Horse care, horse health and tagged with , ,
Needles after acupuncture

It’s hard to believe that these needles were straight when they were inserted!

Sheldon is a good acupuncture patient. He stands quietly while Dr. Carol inserts the needles, letting her insert them deeply (Freedom can’t take that — when he gets acupuncture the needles are only inserted a small amount). Sheldon has absolutely huge releases in the shape of yawns, neck stretches and shakes, and his muscles twitch like crazy.

It’s hard to believe that the needles shown to the left were straight when the were inserted. Believe me, they were. It’s also hard to believe that just the twitching of his muscles could cause this Interestingly, it was the needles in his back and loin area that were bent the most after treatment.

Needles inserted

These were the needles that ultimately got bent. What you can’t see are the tingling vibrations or the movement of the needles as his muscles twitched.

In fact, Carol removed them first because his body was vibrating from them.

According to Carol, what Sheldon experienced is called the De-Qi response (the arrival of vital energy), which occurs when the Meridian transmits the acupuncture stimulation from one point to other parts of the body. It’s described as the oscillation of the meridians — which is a very apt description when you see it happen.

In veterinary medicine it manifests as muscle twitching and flinching; humans typically report heaviness, tingling, soreness or pressure.

Big release

Once Sheldon relaxed into the sensation, he gave some impressive yawns.

My guess is that Sheldon felt tingling. We could certainly see it! You could see the arrival of that energy for sure — it was a marked difference from most of the acupuncture treatment that I’ve witnessed where the result is usually relaxation. For Sheldon, that came after we removed those four needles.

Sheldon is getting acupuncture to help him release some of the stiffness and tension that he holds in his body. As an ex-racehorse, he’s a bit one sided and I can feel the stiffness in him during massages. The acupuncture gets a bigger response and hopefully a bigger and longer lasting release. He has stiffness and tension up near his poll, around his SI joint, and in his hamstrings. They are consistent with a horse who is learning to use his body differently as we ask him to rebalance and learn to step under himself and lighten his forehand. One of the big challenges with restarting an OTTB is that they can become quite sore as their body changes. Acupuncture is a great way to treat this.

I’ve also found that after acupuncture treatment, my horses are more receptive to acupressure and massage. It makes it easier for me to help them relax.

Rachel Alexandra is back home!

Posted by Liz Goldsmith in Commentary, Horse care, horse health and tagged with

Update from Stonestreet Farm today — After six weeks at Rood & Riddle, Rachel Alexandra is back home.

Rachel Alexandra is home at Stonestreet today, beginning the next stage of her remarkable recuperation following abdominal surgery in mid-February.

Stonestreet employees decorated her stall with cards from fans as they awaited her arrival; a get-well banner from Fair Grounds Racecourse stretched across the barn, ready to welcome the hard-fighting champion home.

“Having Rachel home is a milestone in her recovery. Our Stonestreet team is so happy to have her home and we are eager to give her all the exceptional care and attention she needs,” said Barbara Banke, “I am deeply grateful to Drs. Woodie, Barr, Reed and the entire Rood & Riddle team for the unparalleled care Rachel has received at their facility. A special thank you as well to Medical Technician Brent Comer for his dedication to her care, and to Alex Riddle for keeping Rachel’s fans updated on her progress.”

Stonestreet’s team and Rood & Riddle medical technicians will join to monitor Rachel around the clock while Dr. Bonnie Barr checks her progress with daily visits to the farm.

“This time of transition is a big step, as well as an added stress in her recovery from a very serious, life-threatening condition. We feel, however, that she is ready to take on this challenge, and in doing so, she takes the next step toward getting back to life on the farm,” said Dr. Barr.

Rachel’s first few days at home will focus on ensuring she is comfortable in her surroundings through hand grazing. She will then transition to a small, temporary round pen the size of her stall. As Rachel becomes comfortable and her team feels satisfied with her progress, panels will be inserted to gradually extend that round pen.

These slow, deliberate, day-to-day steps are designed to evolve into turnout in a regularly sized round pen followed ultimately by transition to a small paddock. While this process could take as little as a couple of weeks, Rachel and her team will set a cautious pace.